Colored Anchor Synchronization for Second-Screen Interaction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current second-screen technologies face challenges in effectively synchronizing and enhancing viewer engagement with primary video content, as they struggle to provide seamless interaction and additional interactive features due to limitations in encoding and decoding methods used for image processing.
Innovation Solution
The development of multi-color computer-readable symbols, referred to as 'anchors,' which are embedded in primary video streams to enable effective second-screen synchronization. These symbols use a set of colors with specific three-bit codes to encode digital values, allowing for robust decoding and registration of secondary images, enabling interactive controls and additional content overlay on mobile devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multi-color symbols with three-bit codes are used to encode digital values, then the encoding precision and synchronization accuracy are improved, but the device complexity and decoding difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The digital value encoding is segmented into multiple color regions, where each region represents a portion of the digital value. This segmentation allows the system to encode complex information distributed across multiple simpler color elements, improving precision while maintaining manageable decoding complexity through modular processing.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the symbol use different color assignments to encode different portions of the digital value. This local differentiation enables precise encoding of specific value components in specific regions, allowing the decoder to process information locally rather than requiring global analysis of the entire symbol structure.
2Reliability
If multiple sub-symbols are distributed across different locations on the display screen, then the synchronization reliability and error correction capability are improved, but the detection difficulty and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The symbol is divided into multiple sub-symbols distributed at different locations on the display screen. Each sub-symbol contains a portion of the encoded information and can be independently detected. This segmentation improves reliability through distributed information storage and enables parallel detection processes that can reduce overall processing time despite the increased spatial complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Each sub-symbol serves multiple functions: it acts as an independent information carrier, provides redundancy for error correction, and can be detected individually or collectively. This multi-functionality allows the system to maintain high reliability while using standardized detection procedures that can be applied uniformly to each sub-symbol location.
3Productivity
If colored regions meeting at a common vertex are used to encode digital values, then the encoding efficiency and information density are improved, but the manufacturing precision and color consistency requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple colored regions meeting at a common vertex are merged to form a single encoding unit that represents a complete digital value. This merging approach increases encoding efficiency by packing multiple bits of information into a compact geometric configuration, while the common vertex serves as a reference point that simplifies alignment and color consistency verification during manufacturing.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for distributing information includes producing a symbol (26, 64, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 90) to be overlaid on at least one primary image presented on a first display screen (24, 62) the symbol encoding a specified digital value in a set of color elements (28, 82, 92) having different, respective colors. A message is received from a client device (32, 68) containing an indication of the specified digital value decoded by the client device upon capturing and analyzing a secondary image of the first display screen. In response to the message, an item of information (50, 70) relating to the primary image is transmitted to the client device, for presentation on a second display screen (34) associated with the client device.